Brilliant ‘Selma’ shines a light on Martin Luther King Jr.

December 24, 2014 4:12 PM

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Brilliantly acted and directed, Ava DuVernay’s towering “Selma” is Hollywood’s definitive depiction of the 1960s American civil rights movement — as well as perhaps the most timely movie you’ll see this year.

It focuses with vivid dramatic strength on the demonstrations — and political maneuvering between Martin Luther King Jr. and President Lyndon B. Johnson — that led to the 1965 federal Voting Rights Act, which, half a century later, is under attack in various states, even as police killings in Fergus...